Review: The Simpsons – “Fland Canyon”

Spoilers Below

When Homer fails at trying to get Maggie to go to sleep, he decides to tell her a tale of the time the Simpsons and the Flanders went on vacation together.

The church group was cleaning up an run-down area of town on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, Homer complained the entire time. Ned Flanders, however, won a trip to the Grand Canyon for two families (8 people) for doing such a good job. At first, he asks Reverend Lovejoy and his family to join them but they refuse. The Reverend tells Ned that he should take the Simpsons in order to make them better neighbors. Since this was before Maggie was born, the two families of four worked out well.

During a donkey trail ride into the canyon, their trail guide fell off the steep trail and disappeared, leaving the families to fend for themselves. Most of their food was with the trail guide so Ned and Homer go off to find help, leaving the women and children behind. They walk through the night and, in the morning, find a group of wealthy people camping by the river. As they watch the campers waste all of their supplies, Ned is torn between coveting and stealing what the campers have. Homer convinces him that they need to steal the supplies they need for their families.

Somehow, the two manage to pull off the heist and return, with oodles of food, to their families. The group managed to get out of the canyon and return to Springfield.

To be honest, this episode was boring. I guess that was the point, though, since it was supposed to lull Maggie to sleep. Episodes like this make me think this show is way overdue for cancellation.